Re-coupling Conservation Compliance and Crop Insurance

“If the landowner is doing something to help us, they deserve to be compensated for doing that. We support that, we advocate for that and we think it’s extremely important to do it. But we also think that it’s important to have a deal be a deal. If we go out there and try to work with the landowner, let’s make sure that crop insurance doesn’t provide incentives to go destroy habitat.”

- Dale Hall, Ducks Unlimited CEO

Background

For the past three decades, conservation compliance has been linked to most U.S. agricultural commodity programs to reduce soil erosion and deter wetland drainage. In exchange for taxpayer-funded commodity supports, farmers have agreed to farm the most productive lands, while minimizing impacts to highly erodible soils and wetlands. This long-standing agreement between American taxpayers and farmers has served as an effective partnership model to promote sustainable land use, conserve wildlife habitat, protect drinking water and provide flood protection.

However, as part of the 2012 Farm Bill, Congress has proposed several fundamental changes to federal farm policy that would eliminate many direct commodity supports and bolster crop insurance. Since 1996, these basic conservation measures have not been linked to federal crop insurance programs.